The Arkansaw traveler., 1887-10-22
LITERARY IMposroRs.
Tha Earth.

The sensation created of late by the alleged attempt of young and enter prising Lew Vanderpoole to pass oil some spurious papers as genuine man. uscripts of George Sand could not but recall the numerous literary mystitica- tions of the past which, performed with an astounding ingenuity and cleyerness, though not always out of mercenary purposes, bear a marked likeness to the forgeries MT. Wander poole has been accused of. Literary impostors, indeed, have long ceased to be a novelty; and besides the re- nowned forgeries of Chatterton and W. I. Ireland. scores of less known, though equally skillful impositions, have been performed throughout all times, some of which are being re- vived to memory.
 AS to poor young Chatterton's forgery of the poems of Rowley, a priest of the fifteenth century, it has always been. and will never cease to be, looked upon as the most extraor- dinary piece of ofimposition of modern times. Compared with the Row ley" poems, all other literary fabrica- tions shrink into nonentity, and the more attentively they are examined, the more intense must be the feelings of admiration of this rare, though per- verted genius.
 In the year 176S, at the time of the opening of the new bridge at Bristol, there appeared in Fdrley's Weekly Journal an account of the ceremonies observed at the opening of the old bridge" taken, it was said, from a very ancient manuscript. The article attracted attention, and after muck inquiry it was discovered that the person who brought the copy to the office was youth of fifteen to sixteen years of age, called Thomas Chatter ton. He was at first very unwilling to discover whence he had obtained the original manuscript, and gave some evasive answers. Ultimately he stated that he had received this, to- gether with many other Mss. in prose and verse, from his father, who had found them in large chest on the north side of Radcliffe church l; other parchments, he added, were given to him by his uncle, John Chat terton, the schoolmaster, for covering his copy books.
 All the pieces written upon those parchments purported to have been composed by one Thomas Rowley, a secular priest of the fifteenth century, and his friend, Mir. Cannynge, a wealthy Bristol merchant of this pe- riod. Those alleged manuscripts de- ceived even Mir. Barrett, all eminent historian, who inserted many speci- mems of Rowley in his "Ilistory of Bristol" Even Horace Walpole, to whom Chatterton had sent specimens of Rowley's poetry in March, l769 encouraged him on the score of his discoveries" and promised his assist ance to Chatterton's ambitious plans of seeking his fortune" in London The makeup of Chatterton's parch- ments was ingenious to perfection the characters were of the true an. tique formation, the ink had beel tinctured with yellow cast, and tho parchment itGelf done up with yellow ochre, to make it look still older. Ii was not until Gray and Mason discov- cred the forgery that Walpole with drew his influence from Chatterton The latter, however, contrived to get to London without Walpole's assist ance, and it seems that, owing to some change in his circumstances, the na- ture of which is unknown, he soon after abaLdoned all hope of gaining the objects of his ambition, advance ment and distinction. He fell gradn- ally into desponiency and spent the remaining days of his life in conflict between pride and poverty. In August, 1770, when but eighteen years old, half starved, he made an end to his lugubrious career by poison,